A New Cousin!!!

The last two weekends we made trips up to Seattle. And both trips we were hoping Lisa's brother and sis in law would have their baby... It's been a busy month: 1st weekend Joel's graduation celebrations, 2nd weekend Mother's day celebrations, 

3rd weekend we went to Seattle for a bridal shower celebration and a Mariner's baseball game with some friends from Vancouver, BC, 

and 4th weekend for Kaleb's 1st birthday celebrations... and during the whole planning time we hoped that baby Chloe would be born so (selfishly, I know) we wouldn't have to make a 3rd trip up to Seattle back to back to back! And guess what... SHE'S HERE!!! Chloe was born on Friday, May 22nd at 2:04 PM. Weighing in at 7 lbs, 20 inches! She has the cutest cheeks and is very sweet. Congrats Tran Family!!! So, we got to see her every day over Memorial Day weekend... plus a ton of other events that weekend. We went to Green Lake and walked around, to Hoi Dong (Vietnamese District Conference for the C&MA) and Kaleb's 1st birthday at the park. Beautiful weather! Kaleb got a cool wagon that Kaden and Kaleb got pulled around in... they almost look like twins!!! :-)Slowing down this summer??? Doesn't look like it! We have a few weddings to attend, a FIVE year anniversary to celebrate, lots of family and friends around! And a future to try to figure out!!! :-) Kaden is walking like a big boy and doing all sorts of fun things! I will post a video soon of him singing... and then clapping... it's the cutest thing ever!!! Anyways... sorry blog world that our posts are very few and far in between!  

Mum's Day!

We didn't just celebrate mother's day on Sunday... it was an entire weekend celebration! It all started on Friday when we got a text at 6 am from my friend Krista! They were in labor! She joined the mommy club just in time for Mother's Day! Elijah Joseph Donald was born that day 7.7 lbs, 19 inches! What a sweetie! He's so CUTE! Congrats friends!!! Friday evening Kaden and Lisa spent the evening together hanging out, learning to sing "Oh McDonald" and danced and played! It was a fun time!!!

Saturday we woke up and met up with the Miller's to get Waffles at the Waffle Window on Hawthorn! It was heaven to the stomach!!! Then we walked it all off at the Farmer's Market... a tradition for the last three years now! We stocked up on herbs and tomato plants and all sorts of other goodies! We headed home and gardened all afternoon and headed to the Lam's house to feast for Nappy's birthday! Prime Rib, Chili, Ahi Tuna salad and all the sides and chocolate cake!!! Oh man... I was stuffed! Nothing is better than friends and food! ;)

Sunday we got up to go to church... Lisa woke up to a mum's day present... a new camera flash, and a gift certificate to ger her hair done by the coolest hair dresser ever! So, good job daddy and baby! They even kept it a secret for a few days!!! They are pretty bad at giving gifts ASAP... we headed to church and Jonah got dedicated today! Afterwards we feasted! We ate at Pho Ngon. Then naptime... and more gardening... and then to A.T. and Chi Thu's house for clams, steak, grilled veggies and cake made by Annette!!! Great cake Annette!!! ;-) So... that makes very happy tummies... a baby that is worn out by lots of walking and eating and playing with his cousins... 

It's been an amazing experience to be a mom... God reveals his love in so many different ways once we become parents. To laugh when Kaden laughs, to cry when he cries... to hurt when he hurts and celebrate when he celebrates! Cheering him on when he tries to do something new! It's such a great experience to know that this journey is just barely starting... I am loving every minute of this thing called being a mom.  

Kaden's Birthday Party Part 2

Alright... so... we headed to Seattle two weeks after Kaden's birthday to celebrate with friends and family that couldn't make down to Portland! So, Kaden's birthday Part 2 was on Sunday, April 26th. We would have had it on Saturday but KT had a birthday party and Lisa's brother & Sis in law had a baby shower...so, we moved our party to Sunday after church. Which worked out great!

 It was a packed house with yummy food, sweet treats, lots of laughs, awesome presents (thanks!) and Kaden still doesn't like cake. (We had his smash cake, that i made, and my mom ordered a cake from the person who made our wedding cake...it tasted pretty good... it just wasn't very pleasing to the eyes... toying with the idea of submitting the cake to cakewrecks.blogspot.com but good thing she didn't mess up on our wedding cake 5 years ago. 

So, we partied hard on Sunday and slept all the way home. Thank you for all that came out to celebrate Kaden's life! It's been a fun adventure... now he's a walker... life seems like it's going to get more interesting. :-) He's adorable toddling around the house... definitely doesn't look like a little baby any more. Life finally is slowing down for us To's. Joel is done with school and walks this Friday... and Lisa is all done with all the major events for the year at her work. So, time to slow down and figure out what God has in store for this family of three. Please keep praying for us and knowing where God is leading us in this next season. Much Love!!! :-) 

Kaden's Birthday Party

What a fun filled birthday week for Kaden! Auntie Gracie from California was up in Portland for her spring break, she's a school counselor. Auntie Gracie made Kaden's first birthday Dr. Seuss themed cake. It was amazing! Auntie Annette helped with the supplies and the assembly of the masterpiece! Beautiful just beautiful! So the week was spent hanging out with Auntie Gracie and eating a lot of treats... lots of frozen yogurt... cookies...cake... other yummy food! Man... we think we all gained five pounds! 

Birthday party day: 

Over 50 people came through the To house...lots of fun and laughter was had by all. I am sure everyone was super stuffed and tired by the end of the party! The kids played in the bounce house (thanks Chu Nappy and Co Annette for loaning it to us).

The adults sat close to the food and munched all afternoon! :-) Kaden was so good... even without really napping all week! He loved being around all the people and knew he was very loved!

 

He loved the balloons, the tissue from the presents, the kids playing... the adults holding him... he loved it all... EXCEPT when it came time to eating his personal sized cake. He didn't the texture of the frosting... he freaked out!!! It was quite adorable.

 

After all the friends and family went home... Kaden crashed for almost two hours! He napped so hard he didn't even budge from the position we laid him down from.

 

Happy First Birthday KADEN!!!

We know you have read this a million times in our blogs, but man... time flies! It's been a year since we started this blog. Thank you for reading it this year... joining in the adventures of being parents and watching Kaden grow along side of us. He's been such a joy this past year... we have experienced the love of God in a new way and are continuing to see Christ in a different light. It's Easter weekend and as we are remembering Christ's death and celebrating his resurrection we see the sacrifice that God the Father gave us when he sent his ONLY son to earth to live and die for US. To be separated from his son... wow... that's huge LOVE to see him being beaten and hung on a cross... we freak out when Kaden falls down and gets a scrape. We are daily thanking God for his son that he sent for our sins... and we thank God for blessing us with a son that brings such joy and love to this family! Happy Birthday Kaden... we love you so much! We love watching you take your first steps... we love seeing you explore things and dislike grass... we love that you care for others... especially other babies when they are crying. We love your hugs and kisses... we love how you sing and dance! We love watching you look out the window and wave hi and bye to people. You are a blessing to us and we hope and pray that we will be a blessing to you too! Hope you can look back to the pictures of this past year and the blogs and stories we have written down and know that you are very loved by many people. But most of all loved by your creator... Happy First Birthday Kaden! 

First Full Haircut

Kaden has gotten a trim from Lisa's hairdresser, Jo Anna... but for his first "official full" haircut we took him to one of those kid shops that have all the cool cars and stuff to sit in. They have movies, toys, bubbles... everything you can think of to entertain kids... it was a little over stimulating actually. Kaden did a great job and now looks like a little boy, not a little baby! How they grow so fast. One more week and he turns ONE!!!

Potty Trained?

WARNING: This blog contains contents about poop. :-)

Kaden hasn't pooped in a diaper for almost a month now... it's amazing! :-) The boy is pretty regular. He pretty much goes potty every morning when he wakes up, or shortly after he eats breakfast. So, we noticed he would get into his poop stance... 

and rush him to the bathroom and set him on the toilet. :) Then he goes and we get him ready for the day! I think he actually doesn't like to poop in his diaper anymore. It's so nice not to have to mess with that... so, first step to potty training! We will take it! :0) I love this pic of him on the toilet... his smile is enough! :-)

Kaden is growing up entirely too fast... he is becoming a little boy now... he took a few steps the other day, but really loves to crawl...or scoot across the floor. It's not really crawling. Anyways, his first birthday is only 16 days away... we can't believe he's almost ONE!!!! WOW!!! He is such a joy... we love the new things he is learning every day. We love that there are no more poopy diapers!!! YEAH!!!